Well that didn't happen until weeks 6 and 8 of the live shows. Yet she was always given early slots in the first half of the show - a deliberate ruse to get out acts they want gone that week (well singing first saw off Craig, Kitty, Johnny, Nu Vibe - so it works).

If Janet had got some later singing slots I might buy your argument. But they always put on early - and when that didn't depress her vote (she stayed top for 4 weeks and was then second) they then started with the negativity from the judges and the Janet is difficult comments. It was then Janet seemed to lose her confidence - and then put in those weak performances.

If you can't see that - and the obvious bias against her through early slots (never once in the last 3 acts in seven weeks and only once sang before Misha in seven weeks) then perhaps you have fallen under the 1984 'Groupthink' spell too.

How could this be an underlyingly nasty and manipulative show - Dermot is so nice after all!

Lol, bitter much? I'd suggest a long brisk walk, you'll feel so much better afterwards.


I'm not familiar with BB but, is that what happened with it? Did the producers of the show try to push certain contestants and the viewers noticed and got frustrated?

I think the damage is caused with short term thinking, producers don't think long term, they only think in terms of the current run, the next couple of shows. They don't think of the overall brand and longevity. Which is odd considering the kind of money it brings in for Simon, I thought he'd more interested in protecting his cash cow.

I'm far too tired, to argue back properly until tomorrow, so until then I leave you with this..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTY0AtqOhxU

This year's BB was won by a guy called Aaron - he didn't suit the producers mould of what they wanted a winner to be so got very negative edits in almost every nightly highlights show. They used the spin off Bit on the side show to trash him - on one occasion one celeb guest accused him of being a wife beater (with no basis for that) - all quite nasty stuff. Indeed in all my years of watching reality TV I have never seen anything as nasty and appalling as the way he was treated.

The show promoted their 'tabloid fodder' favourites - a Geordie lad and a blonde women playing dumb - but Aaron won the final (to the producers dismay) by a large margin.

Janet and Aaron therefore have some similarities in terms of their treatment - but if you thought the X factor was bad you have seen nothing like the despicable treatment meted out to Aaron. But the public had their say in the end - and he won.

PS This whole issue caused a lot of bad feeling on the BB forum - and I would rather not dwell on it here. Just to say if you thought the X factor was manipulative well it was childs play to this year's BB (but actually the X factor approach worked as it was so much more subtle whereas on BB they used the sledgehammer approach and it failed cos it was so obvious!).

Wow, can't say it sounds all that appealing, although ironically it does sound very Orwellian, strangely enough.

And if it is a sore point for so many then I guess it's best to just leave it at that.

The Orwellian comparisons are actually not that far fetched. "Reality" TV is all about duping the masses by making them think what they are watching is real, when in truth it has been faked and staged by the producers.

Aside from the fakery, there is a lot of manipulation of the viewers' emotions too.

IMO it is very wrong when the winner is virtually decided by Syco yet they advertise it as being a public vote/choice when it is anything but
Look at Mary last year - if it hadnt been for the blatant cheating by the producers she would have at least made the final OK she did perform similar songs in the 1st few weeks but she was really good at them - and then the producers decided to attack her for that. Then they made her look like a mum/aunt at a wedding when she did the Take That song (still sang well) with devils horns on her head - naff I'd love to know what club singers Cowell heard that were as good as Mary was.
Kinda like how it went with Janet at first - she was good early on and then was attacked for being boring.

I actually think you have explained that very well, they do manipulate but it is rather worrying that the viewers do not see how they are being duped, the Misha incident is glaring out with the vote going up by so much. I feel sorry for Little Mix with Syco and Cowell et al, they were malleable which is exactly what this show wants, not someone with a brain, and an identity that they want to keep, not become just another puppet from this show.


That sums this show up completely, and it is getting worse year on year, you can now even see the similarities to other years, even down to acts put through, ie Katie, Kitty, Frankie, the villains of the piece, Wagner, Jedward, Chico, and we would have had GOLDIE.. (hell thank god she said NO) the clowns of the piece, it has no originality left anymore.

Then there is the one who gets stitched up, Lucie, Diana, Janet, Treyc, Brenda, Mary.. there is a pattern to this show and too many never even see it. We have the cute boy (mind you he went out week one in James) and a boyband for good measure, but they went out in a rather shocking fashion... from favs for the final to OUT.

In there somewhere is the winner, with maybe 3 more they want to last, and the others are used to ensure that happens, ie Katie.. how many went while she was saved. Misha, again used to ensure that they got out Craig and Janet. It has become like a bad soap opera, and sadly it is even lacking in talent now as well.


The VTs need to be stopped from being sob stories, lets see them rehearsing their songs and learning their dance steps, hell I would even prefer to see them having their hair done to what we in fact get spoon fed.

I agree I'd like to hear more behind the scenes stuff (rehearsing, singing/dancing, make up) in the VT not this sob story crap.
I was just watching some old clips with Rhydian and even 4 years ago the VTs werent as bad as they seem now (though Rhyd didnt really have a sob story).

They turned on Janet cos she was causing a lot of problems off stage for her mentor...who put her through in the 1st place, also the performance was getting worse...this could have been due to the negative comments made by Gary and Tulisa,(and pointed out by some FMs on here) but come on now....in the music industry artists are going to receive both positve and negative feedback from music critiques and if she doess develop her music, she's gonna have to expect this and somehow deal with it...otherwise she IS a gonna!! Misha on the other hand was been hated by most of the GBP....but dispite this she developed in front of our eyes week after week....cos she took advice from both her mentor and judges and acted upon it....Kitty also!!

It seems that some people must have been watching something else. Janet was hyped up as the best thing on the show even when every week she demonstrated that she couldn't yodel in tune.

I suspect that some of her fans have seen her better performances on youtube and have overlooked that her performances on the live shows were, at best, pretty poor.

I think thats how little mix got the support, that youtube lcip of them demonstrating how harmonies are made, and then the two follow up accapella things on xtra factor showed talent we hadnt at that time really seen on the show when they were doing uptempo stuff every week.

None of the contestants on the show rose above mediocrity. However, most of the acts improved with the Xfactor's back room professional singing and dancing coaching. One contestant that didn't improve was Janet.

The producers were rather unfair in nailing her shoes to the stage so she couldn't show any stage presence or showmanship.

What didn't help was the "sideshow bob" hairstyling and the three foot stilts she was forced to use just before her demise on the show.

But, the other acts were also disadvantaged by the stylists picking up the first thing out of the play-school dressing up box.

I think the producers did turn on her in a way but I also feel Janet jumped before they push her if you know what I mean.

Janet was sounding good early on, winning lots of votes and topping the pile. She absolutely dominated. Then she started getting songs which give her absolutely no chance. Even if she is limited in voice, there is surely songs which could give her a chance.

Instead she had mmmbop and Michael Jackson and it just wasn't going to work.

I feel it was around this period that she decided to jump. And when I say jump, I mean deliberately forgetting her words.

What we don't know is whether she became unhappy on the show because of, or in spite of, the producers. Some of her later songs were downright weird, and I find it hard to believe she picked Mmmbop herself.